This invention relates to an improved dredge, floating pontoon pipe-line joint, and more particularly, to an improved dredge floating pontoon pipe-line ball joint for releasably connecting the adjacent ends of two conduit sections in a pipe-line which is supported by floating pontoons and which is utilized to convey sand and sediment in suspension during dredging operations and for permitting relative, universal movement between the adjacent, connected ends of the conduit sections.
Ball joints have been utilized for a number of years to connect the ends of two conduit sections employed in dredge pontoon lines. While the prior ball joints have embodied a variety of different designs and constructions, they have generally included: a ball member secured to an end of one of the conduit sections and having an annular, generally spherical shaped outer surface; a socket member secured to an end of the other conduit sections; a ring mounted on the spherical surface of the ball member; and means, usually carried by the ring and the socket member, for locking the ring and socket member so as to interconnect the ends of the two conduit sections. Because of their intended use, the ball joints tend to be quite large and heavy. For example, the pipe diameters of "standard size" ball joints have generally run from a 12 inches to 36 inches and in the larger diameter ball joints, the ring may, for instance, weigh as much as 3000 pounds.
One of the longstanding problems relating to ball joints used for dredge pontoon lines is that when connecting and disconnecting a conventional ball joint, there was a tendency for the ring to be "bumped" or "knocked" off of the spherical surface of the ball member, i.e., to slide back on the ball and onto conduit section, as the forward portion of the ring does not grip the spherical surface of the ball member on the forward side of the transverse centerline of the ball member. Thus, when reconnecting the ball joint, the ring has to be raised into place. In the larger size ball joints, the ring is quite heavy and it is often impossible for a man to lift it. Consequently, additional lifting facilities must be utilized at each ball joint of the floating pipe-line and in many instances there could be more than twenty ball joints in a pipe-line. This problem was and is annoying and time consuming and is one which is potentially dangerous in that it may lead to property damage and to personal injury to workers assembling or disassembling the ball joint. Others have attempted to solve this problem by designing and construction rings which fit "over center" on the ball members, i.e., have surfaces which contact the outer spherical surface of the ball member on both sides of the center line or more correctly, the transverse center plane of the ball member. While a number of designs for "such over the center" rings have been proposed, the rings have been relatively expensive to manufacture and maintain and have been difficult to mount on and dismount from the ball member.
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved ball joint which is adapted for releasably connecting the ends of two conduit sections utilized in a dredge pontoon line and which affords a unique, practical solution to the aforementioned long-standing problem. In addition, our improved ball joint includes a novel means for preventing the accidental unlocking of the ball joint during usage.
More specifically, the improved ball joint of our present invention includes a ball member adapted to be secured to an end of one of the two conduit sections to be interconnected, a socket member adapted to be secured to an end of the other conduit section, a novel ring mounted on the ball member, and novel means for retaining the ring on the ball member. The ball member has an annular, outwardly facing surface formed in the shape of a first spherical sector, with the center of the spherical sector lying on the longitudinal central axis of the one conduit section. This outwardly facing surface is divided into a forward portion and a rearward portion by an imaginary, transverse plane that includes the center of the first spherical sector and that is perpendicular to the longitudinal central axis of the one conduit section.
The ring includes first and second annular sections which are integrally interconnected by a central reduced diameter section. The first annular section has an inwardly facing surface which is formed in the shape of a second spherical sector and which is in surface to surface contact with the rearward portion of the outwardly facing surface of the ball member. The second annular section of the ring has an annular inwardly facing surface which overlies, is adjacent to but is spaced from the forward portion of the outwardly facing surface of the ball member. The retaining means includes a plurality of pins that are carried by the second ring section and that contact the forward portion of the outwardly facing surface of the ball member. As a result of the use of these retention pins, the ring cannot be moved or bumped out of surface to surface contact with the ball member although relative surface to surface movement between the ring and the ball member is permitted.
Our improved ball joint, including the novel ring and retaining means, has a number of significant advantages over prior ball joints. The retention pins can be readily inserted in or removed from the ring, and without the retention pins, the ring is adapted for facile mounting on and dismounting from the ball member. The use of the retention pins permits the ring to have a relatively simple design and configuration and this, in turn, permits the ring to be manufactured relatively inexpensively. Moreover, the retention pins, themselves, are inexpensive and can be relatively quickly and easily replaced when worn. The use of the retaining pins also reduces the overall weight of our ball joint particularly as compared to prior joints employing "over the center" ring constructions.
Our improved ball joint also utilizes a novel means for interlocking the ring and the socket member and for assuring that these members cannot accidentally become unlocked during usage. In this regard, the socket member of our improved ball joint includes a plurality of hook members which project from the socket member and are adapted to engage a plurality of radially outwardly extending, tapered lugs on the outwardly facing surface of the ring. Engagement occurs between the lug and the ends of the hook members as a result of the rotation of the ring, about the central longitudinal axis of the first conduit, relative to the socket member. The vertical pair of the engaged lugs and hook members includes radially directed, coaxial bores which are adapted to receive a locking eye bolt. When disposed in these bores, the locking bore prevents relative rotational movement between the ring and the socket, and thus prevents disengagement of the locking means. The principal advantage of this novel locking means, from the standpoint of commercializing our improved ball joint, is its simplicity and the fact that it does not require the usage of nuts and bolts and the like.
These and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent in the following description of the preferred embodiment of our present invention.